4/9

5/9

6/9

17th May 1927: Singer Tito Schipa (1888 - 1965) making one of his own records in a record press room at HMV record plant in Hayes, Middlesex.

Getty Images

7/9

Customers and staff at the HMV shop in Oxford Street, London, during a power-cut, 19th December 1973.

Getty Images

8/9

An HMV (His Master's Voice) record shop, UK, April 1968. The first HMV store opened in London in 1921

Getty Images

9/9

A slice of music history: Beatles producer Sir George Martin with Nipper the dog, at the unveiling of a plaque to HMV

PA

HMV's history goes back 90 years - the first store was opened on Oxford Street by composer Edward Elgar in 1921.

Famous for its "Nipper the dog" trademark, it grew to become a musical powerhouse, selling records and albums to generations and had a hand in the Beatles' big break, recommending the group's demo record to publishers.

But it struggled to reinvent itself when its core markets went into decline, with expansion into books and live entertainment failing to change its fortunes and a recent push towards tablets and headphones coming too late.

"It's a sad but inevitable fate for a much-loved stalwart of the music industry," Gregory Mead at global music analysts Musicmetric said. "HMV simply failed to adapt to the changing tastes of music fans and the seismic shift we've seen as everything has gone digital."